The recent military defeat of the Islamic State jihadist group's Caliphate in Iraq and Syria does not mean terrorism has been vanquished, Italy's defence minister Roberta Pinotti said on Monday.
"There is a major coalition against terrorism, we have defeated state terrorism that is to say the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria," Pinotti said on the sidelines of an event in Florence.
"But we certainly have not defeated terrorism overall," she said.
She made the remarks at a presentation in Florence of a new book by Italian lawmaker Andrea Manciulli, entitled 'Defeating terrorism: the evolution of the Jihadist threat and legislative instruments to fight it'.
"We cannot forget the terrible attack that took place in Sinai. An attack planned with the aim of killing as many people as possible, and with military precision," Pinotti stated.
She was referring to Friday's assault on a crowded Sufi mosque in Egypt's volatile North Sinai province by gunmen carrying the IS flag that killed more than 300 worshippers - the worst attack by militants in the country's modern history.
"Be it Europe's capitals or Muslim countries that are targeted, we must all show solidarity and unity in the fight."
"There are not First Division and Second Division deaths or some attacks that matter more than others," Pinotti stated.
